A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

You make an enormous generalization based on the first study you cited. You describe conservatives as medically predisposed to be more "paranoid," when in fact the study found that those identifying themselves as conservatives are better at "recognizing threats." This is the exact opposite of paranoia (which is feeling threatened when no threat exists). In fact the article concludes that ", despite increasing evidence suggesting biological differences between liberals and conservatives, Kanai warns against reading too much into the findings. 'It's very unlikely that actual political orientation is directly encoded in these brain regions,' he said."

Your second study demonstrates correlation, but not causation. This is a logical fallacy. As a counterexample, people of higher intelligince often attend academic environments saturated with liberal viewpoints. So one's liberal affiliation can largely be attributed to one's environment, not intelligence.

It's absurd to assert that such complex concepts as one's political philosophy stem from mere heredity.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

I know this is a hit on JimTimmy's about race and intelligence, but this fails to compare because one's race IS genetic, while one's political identity is not.

Basically, JT is saying that...

Race is 100% geneticThere is a heavy correlation between intelligence and genetics.Therefore, there is a heavy correlation between intelligence and race on the genetic level, rather than the social level.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

My IQ was tested at 128 on the Stanford binet scale, I'm not a social liberal, I'm a right wing libertarian.

My Mother's IQ is around the same as mine, she is a Conservative

My Grandfather worked for NASA, and had taken many IQ tests all of which he tested Genius; he was a Conservative. He also graduated from high-school 4 years early.

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

No IQ is based on genetics, and politics is environmental.

My mom was adopted and her birth brothers are liberals.

"Chemical weapons are no different than any other types of weapons."~Lordknukle

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

You make an enormous generalization based on the first study you cited. You describe conservatives as medically predisposed to be more "paranoid," when in fact the study found that those identifying themselves as conservatives are better at "recognizing threats." This is the exact opposite of paranoia (which is feeling threatened when no threat exists). In fact the article concludes that ", despite increasing evidence suggesting biological differences between liberals and conservatives, Kanai warns against reading too much into the findings. 'It's very unlikely that actual political orientation is directly encoded in these brain regions,' he said."

Your second study demonstrates correlation, but not causation. This is a logical fallacy. As a counterexample, people of higher intelligince often attend academic environments saturated with liberal viewpoints. So one's liberal affiliation can largely be attributed to one's environment, not intelligence.

It's absurd to assert that such complex concepts as one's political philosophy stem from mere heredity.

This response is clearly part of the conservative agenda. Anybody who denies these evolutionary truths must be a Creationist propogandist who wishes to mix their totalitarian political agendas with science.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

My IQ was tested at 128 on the Stanford binet scale, I'm not a social liberal, I'm a right wing libertarian.

My Mother's IQ is around the same as mine, she is a Conservative

My Grandfather worked for NASA, and had taken many IQ tests all of which he tested Genius; he was a Conservative. He also graduated from high-school 4 years early.

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

No IQ is based on genetics, and politics is environmental.

My mom was adopted and her birth brothers are liberals.

Obviously there are some smart conservatives, but as a whole, liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives are.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

I know this is a hit on JimTimmy's about race and intelligence, but this fails to compare because one's race IS genetic, while one's political identity is not.

Basically, JT is saying that...

Race is 100% geneticThere is a heavy correlation between intelligence and genetics.Therefore, there is a heavy correlation between intelligence and race on the genetic level, rather than the social level.

Race does not exist as a scientific category; Geo posted some nice evidence about that fact on this thread: http://www.debate.org...

At 2/7/2012 7:29:06 PM, royalpaladin wrote:This response is clearly part of the conservative agenda. Anybody who denies these evolutionary truths must be a Creationist propogandist who wishes to mix their totalitarian political agendas with science.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

I know this is a hit on JimTimmy's about race and intelligence, but this fails to compare because one's race IS genetic, while one's political identity is not.

Basically, JT is saying that...

Race is 100% geneticThere is a heavy correlation between intelligence and genetics.Therefore, there is a heavy correlation between intelligence and race on the genetic level, rather than the social level.

I noticed that it was a slam on JimTimmy, after I read the bit about "political realism", but once again it's a horrible analogy.

Also Liberals are not better at decision making, that is a misdirection of the study; the study shows they are more emotional in their decision making.

"Chemical weapons are no different than any other types of weapons."~Lordknukle

At 2/7/2012 7:29:06 PM, royalpaladin wrote:This response is clearly part of the conservative agenda. Anybody who denies these evolutionary truths must be a Creationist propogandist who wishes to mix their totalitarian political agendas with science.

Humor is only funny if there is a shed of truth to it.

...don't quit your day job

None of this is meant to be funny. This is very true, and if you deny it, you are a Creationist fraud.

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

I know this is a hit on JimTimmy's about race and intelligence, but this fails to compare because one's race IS genetic, while one's political identity is not.

Basically, JT is saying that...

Race is 100% geneticThere is a heavy correlation between intelligence and genetics.Therefore, there is a heavy correlation between intelligence and race on the genetic level, rather than the social level.

I noticed that it was a slam on JimTimmy, after I read the bit about "political realism", but once again it's a horrible analogy.

Also Liberals are not better at decision making, that is a misdirection of the study; the study shows they are more emotional in their decision making.

"In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear. "

At 2/7/2012 7:08:42 PM, royalpaladin wrote:A series of studies have shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ greatly in terms of brain structure and intelligence. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, meaning that they are better decision makers, while conservatives have larger amygdalas, meaning that they are more paranoid and process fear more easily than liberals do. (http://healthland.time.com...)

Another study noted that liberals and atheists tend to have higher IQs than conservatives do. Liberals are about 9-11 IQ points higher than conservatives are. "The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106." (http://articles.cnn.com...) (FYI: The study was conducted by a libertarian and a conservative.)

Based on these studies, I can only conclude that political orientation is based on genetics. There must be a basis for political orientation on the biological level, so I shall henceforth call myself a "political realist".

I know this is a hit on JimTimmy's about race and intelligence, but this fails to compare because one's race IS genetic, while one's political identity is not.

Basically, JT is saying that...

Race is 100% geneticThere is a heavy correlation between intelligence and genetics.Therefore, there is a heavy correlation between intelligence and race on the genetic level, rather than the social level.

First of all, intelligence is a heritable range. Secondly, your environment severely impacts your intelligence, and obviously people are not colourblind. To say the correlation is not social is impossible.

A larger Anterior cingulate cortex means one is more influenced by emotion.It also means one is more capable of determining personal risks and benefits; not so much risks and benefits involving a community or organization.

At 2/7/2012 7:38:37 PM, DanT wrote:A larger Anterior cingulate cortex means one is more influenced by emotion.It also means one is more capable of determining personal risks and benefits; not so much risks and benefits involving a community or organization.